Improving estimation of nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture

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Project description

Mitigating climate change requires accurate and spatially explicit estimates of greenhouse gas emissions that take into account variable soil, climate and management conditions. Recent research has revealed that the current methods used to estimate nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen fertilizer usage may underestimate actual emissions by up to five-fold and fail to identify hotspots. In addition, no scalable model exists that can estimate nitrous oxide emissions, and the data needed to develop suitable models for GHG emissions in tropical and subtropical wheat- and maize-based cropping systems are lacking. Thus, mitigation policies and priorities are based on poor data and estimates of the impacts of nitrogen fertilizer on nitrous oxide emissions.

With the increase in national reporting associated with the Paris Agreement, demand for better emissions data and evidence-based mitigation options is increasing. This project meets these demands by investigating the following questions:

What are the critical trade-offs and synergies between GHG mitigation practices and other smallholder objectives, including reduced poverty, nutrition, and gender equity?

At the local level, the project works with extension actors to focus on demonstrating the economic benefits resulting from more efficient nitrogen use. And at national and regional levels, the project analyzes nitrogen fertilizer subsidies and related policies.

The project is meeting demands for information from stakeholders and decision-makers at all levels, including the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), public and private sector institutions involved with the provision and distribution of nitrogen fertilizers and subsidies, and both governmental and non-governmental agricultural extension.

Outputs from this research are used to refine climate-smart practices that aim to increase productivity for smallholders (women and men), while minimizing negative environmental outcomes, including emissions. Decision-makers will use improved data and methods to support policies that reduce greenhouse emissions and influence policies on nitrogen fertilizer subsidies at international and national levels. Project partners, including local governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and other bilateral projects, are then empowered to scale up evidence-based mitigation practices that also contribute to food security, with a particular focus on efficient nitrogen management and soil management recommendations.

The project also aims to contribute massively to mitigation plans globally by informing the IPCC with more accurate recommendations for nitrogen management in wheat- and maize-based systems and adjusting targets for nitrogen management.

Improving estimation of nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture aims to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 20% from cereal-based systems in India and Mexico.